Mobile Market Now Serving Over 5 Billion Subscribers

The ill fated Kin phones didn't make the kind of splash Microsoft was hoping for, but it's no wonder companies are desperately trying to break into the mobile market. According to research firm The Mobile World, there were five billion mobile connections globally in the first week of July.

China and India, the world's largest mobile markets, added 50 million subscribers in April and May and now account for just shy of 28 percent of the global total. Their net quarterly gain in connections, however, was double that, checking in at 56 percent.

To put these numbers into perspective, consider that the global population stands at 6.8 billion. If The Mobile World's figures are accurate, it means the penetration rate now stands at 71 percent.